Warehouse Managers and Plant Managers are consistently faced with the problems of deteriorating conveyor systems within their facilities and replacing these systems is a great expense to the companies. To date, no one has provided a resolution for restoring axle/shaft cutout holes/slots or the structural stability of an existing conveyor frame and reducing the static electricity as well as the sound level of an existing conveyor system.
Conveyor roller systems are comprised of several rollers mounted between two parallel rails. The rollers are mounted via a shaft which runs through the middle of each roller and extends outward for several inches on each end of the roller. These shaft ends are inserted into cutouts on the rails which are usually hexagonal holes or hexagonal slots.
The rail cutouts are slightly larger than the shaft size so as to allow insertion of the roller shaft which also allows vibration of the roller shaft during operation of the roller conveyor system. In time, this vibration causes a distortion of the holes/slots and requires replacement of the railings.
A means for correcting the distortion other than having to replace the railing system and/or the entire conveyor system is desirable. Simple installation is also desirable so as to minimize conveyor system downtime.
Raymond T. Boschert created a spring clip, U.S. Pat. No. 5,415,272, which attempts to address vibration sound levels by pushing the roller axle/shafts against one side of the elongated cutout. Although this may reduce the sound level, it causes the rollers to become out of line resulting in more wear on the entire conveyor system as a whole. It does not attempt to correct the cutout shape, reduce static electricity or provide any additional structural stability to the existing railing/frame. In addition, the spring clip does not provide any additional safety for workers nor does it extend the life of the existing railing/frame by any extended amount of time.